Exam results aren’t the be all and end all

25th August 2016 was the day students from around the country that sat their GCSE exams received their results.

With exam results it could always go both ways, you might be absolutely delighted with the outcome or you may be disappointed. Nevertheless, I promise you, this is not a life or death situation whatever your results.

I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by – I recall being on holiday and my father phoning me to tell me the grades that I received. Honestly, despite my grades being decent, I guess as a ‘perfectionist,’ I was disappointed.

After passing an entrance exam for an entry to a private school in the Michaelmas term of 2014, I assumed I would be studying at a prestigious school. However, this was not the case; I did not meet their conditional offer. I have never suffered a heartbreak but I can presume that this is the exact feeling one feels when they do. I knew I worked my hardest and now thinking about it, I know I gave it my all. (Maybe more past paper questions would have helped considerably, rather than just memorising my notes continuously.) I realised that you cannot improve unless you actually apply the knowledge you have- this was a major turning point for me!

My grades are respectable – but because their conditional offer was set too high, I let myself down.

This was a difficult situation and I was confused as to what I should do. I wanted to study at a well-respected sixth form around my local area and yes I did have the grades, but it was just too late; they were all full. I was stressed and confused to the point where my I thought I would sign up to an exam board and sit my A-Levels privately, but I needed a social life! I needed to be around people that were studying so that I could feel motivated to study also. I felt like it was the end of the world. But, this was not the case.

I was introduced to a Catholic School in Ilford, which is the current sixth form I attend. I never thought of attending a religious school, even one of my own faith. Nevertheless, when I was enrolled, I was eternally grateful and pretty nervous at the same time – especially because everything was going to be so new. Most of my friends applied to a local college but I wanted something different. At first, I thought, ‘how am I going to get through these two years, I don’t know anybody!’ But, it all worked out.

I am now honoured to have almost every single role within the school i.e. Prefect, reading buddy, a member of the school council team as well as being elected as form captain!

The moral of this story is no matter how your grades go, it is not the end of the world. If anything, it motivates you to change your learning style and your approach to studying. If you have a fear of not being employed in the future with your grades, think of it this way, if nobody employs you, just be your own boss. That is the way I saw it and it helped me considerably. Even though now I know achieving B grades at GCSE is not bad at all!

I am a firm believer of the saying ‘Everything happens for a reason.’ It truly does, I have never been happier and I am ever so comfortable in my sixth form. Not only has it helped me grow in my own faith, but also it has helped me prepare so well for university especially because I didn’t know anybody before I was warmly welcomed into their ‘dysfunctional family!’

Overall, I just wanted to say that no matter what the outcome of your results, everything will eventually work out. I know that in the moment it can be very daunting and upsetting, however, in about a year from now you will hardly remember your grades and they will not bother you as much. Just see it as a positive thing; there are many people out there who don’t perform as well as they thought they could in their GCSEs but go on to perform amazingly in their A-Levels! There are some successful people who don’t even have GCSEs – take a look at Lord Sugar!

If you got the grades you wanted then well done! However, if they didn’t quite work out as you had hoped, everything will eventually work out. See this as a motivation to possibly, next time: work harder, study more, answer more past-paper questions, make notes etc whatever suits you best.

There are helplines out there if you do need help with regards to your results. One of them which is as follows:

0808 100 8000.

Remember, it is not the end of the world.

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I am an 18-year-old student and writer from London. At the age of 13, I self-published a book and that is where everything began. I started to enjoy writing and realised my talent. My audience grew immensely quick and I have been described as a 'leader' and 'role model' to my targeted fan base. As an aspiring journalist, I was given the amazing opportunity to write for The Fashion Culte Magazine, however, after three years of this, I decided to move onto something slightly different and this was when I was given the opportunity to write for The Daily Spectacle.
I hope you enjoy reading my articles!
Lots of love,
Sophia.
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